Sainsbury in talks on car series

Veteran television host Mark Sainsbury partied until dawn yesterday after fronting his last edition of Close Up.

Somewhat tired and jaded, he spoke to the Herald on Sunday last night to reveal he is thinking over a number of small-screen offers - including one celebrating his love for classic cars.

Sainsbury enjoyed a function laid on by TVNZ on Friday night at Toto Italian restaurant in Auckland. It was attended by friends and broadcasting colleagues, including news anchor Simon Dallow. The party carried on into the wee small hours at Sainsbury's pad in the city.

"I have no idea what time I finally got to bed but when the last stragglers left, the birds were certainly singing," he said.

"I thought there might be a weird atmosphere doing the last show but we had come to terms with what happened and I guess we had made our peace with it all."

Sainsbury said that after almost 32 years with TVNZ he planned to put his feet up for a week before taking a road trip to Nelson to visit some mates including former Radio New Zealand political editor Richard Griffin.